Exploitation/Eva Smith

Question 1

“Renton”

Answer 1

• Arguably, the name “​Renton​” is dervived from the verb​ “​to rent​”, a ​euphemism​ for prostitution in the early 20th Century.
• Priestley uses this change in name to mark Eva being forced to change her approach to surviving in a ​hostile society​.
• She can no longer survive by working hard and therefore she must go against her own ​moral principles​ to survive, engaging in prostitution.
• Changes name from Smith- normal to Renton- lowest in society
• Eva: religion, meaning someone who is full of life

Question 2

“​young and fresh and charming and altogether out of place down there​”.

Answer 2

• The ​adjective​ “​fresh”​ bears connotations of ​desire and fertility​, demonstrating that 
• Gerald views her with sexual intent from the start, describing her like food, an example of ​misogynistic objectification​.
• Priestley also includes connotations of purity as she is “​out of place”​ , which is possibly a ​euphemism for her still being a virgin.